The basis of Neoism lies in the idea that anyone can be a particular
individual. David Zack appropriated this idea from Berlin Dada,
in whose case it was Christ, in Neoism this individual was
Monty Cantsin. When Zack came up with the name Monty Cantsin
he likened it to the name Santa Claus, revealing where the
Berlin dadas probably got the idea of, obscuring where he had taken
it from. LikeSanta Claus, anybody can become Monty Cantsin,
but nobody isMonty Cantsin. Cantsin is a fantasy figure.
Neoism disintegrated in 1985 in arguments over exactly
who Monty Cantsin was. Istvan Kantor, an important but mentally
unbalanced Neoist, had been insisting for some time that he was
'the only and true Monty Cantsin' in the same way that other
lunatics might insist that they 'really are' Christ,
Santa Claus, or Louis XIV. With Kantor having gone
completely gaga, other Neoists left the network in futile attempts
to avoid personal communication with him.
Karen Eliot in SMILE 8, 1985